Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004
Why can't you harness Might so that it works for Right? I know it sounds nonsense, but, I mean, you can't just say there is no such thing. The Might is there, in the bad half of people, and you can't neglect it. You can't cut it out but you might be able to direct it, if you see what I mean, so that it was useful instead of bad. ~ T. H. White in The Once and Future King
2005
God never deserted our people. Right through the ages there were Jews. Through the ages they suffered, but it also made us strong. ~ Anne Frank, who went into the infamous attic on 9 July 1942 (Note: Wikipedia's July 9 page earlier claimed that Anne Frank and her family moved to the attic on this date. However, both her diary and the Müller biography state this happened on 6 July 1942.Wikipedia articles for July 9, July 6, and Anne Frank have been updated to reflect this.)
2006
I can get excitement watching rain on a puddle. And then I paint it. Now, I admit, there are not too many people who would find that exciting. But I would. And I want life thrilling and rich. And it is. I make sure it is. ~ David Hockney (born 9 July 1937)
2007
There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death. ~ Bertrand Russell (in the Russell-Einstein Manifesto issued on 9 July 1955).
2008
Nature is busy creating absolutely unique individuals, whereas culture has invented a single mold to which all must conform. It is grotesque. ~ U. G. Krishnamurti
2009
As a child I was taught that to tell the truth was often painful. As an adult I have learned that not to tell the truth is more painful, and that the fear of telling the truth — whatever the truth may be — that fear is the most painful sensation of a moral life. ~ June Jordan
2010
We have to learn to think in a new way. We have to learn to ask ourselves, not what steps can be taken to give military victory to whatever group we prefer, for there no longer are such steps; the question we have to ask ourselves is: what steps can be taken to prevent a military contest of which the issue must be disastrous to all parties? ~ Bertrand Russell (in the Russell-Einstein Manifesto issued on 9 July 1955).
2011
If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. - William Jennings Bryan delivered the "Cross of Gold" speech 9 July 1896.
2012
If you have the courage to touch life for the first time, you will never know what hit you. Everything man has thought, felt and experienced is gone, and nothing is put in its place.
~ U. G. Krishnamurti ~
2013
The way we see things is constantly changing. At the moment the way we see things has been left a lot to the camera. That shouldn't necessarily be.
~ David Hockney ~
2014
Truth shall be firmly established, while aught else besides it is sure to perish.
~ Báb ~
2015
Verily God is able to convert light into fire whenever He pleaseth; surely He is potent over all things. And were He to declare a person whom ye regard alien to the truth as being akin thereto, err not by questioning His decision in your fancies, for He Who is the Sovereign Truth createth things through the power of His behest. Verily God transmuteth fire into light as He willeth, and indeed potent is He over all things.
~ The Báb ~
2016
In every nation thou beholdest unnumbered spiritual leaders who are bereft of true discernment, and among every people thou dost encounter myriads of adherents who are devoid of the same characteristic. Ponder for a while in thy heart, have pity on thyself and turn not aside thine attention from proofs and evidences. However, seek not proofs and evidences after thine idle fancy; but rather base thy proofs upon what God hath appointed. Moreover, know thou that neither being a man of learning nor being a follower is in itself a source of glory. If thou art a man of learning, thy knowledge becometh an honour, and if thou art a follower, thine adherence unto leadership becometh an honour, only when these conform to the good-pleasure of God.
~ The Báb ~
2017
In the time of the First Manifestation the Primal Will appeared in Adam; in the day of Noah It became known in Noah; in the day of Abraham in Him; and so in the day of Moses; the day of Jesus; the day of Muḥammad, the Apostle of God; the day of the ‘Point of the Bayán’; the day of Him Whom God shall make manifest; and the day of the One Who will appear after Him Whom God shall make manifest. Hence the inner meaning of the words uttered by the Apostle of God, "I am all the Prophets", inasmuch as what shineth resplendent in each one of Them hath been and will ever remain the one and the same sun.
~ The Báb ~
2018
As a child I was taught that to tell the truth was often painful. As an adult I have learned that not to tell the truth is more painful, and that the fear of telling the truth — whatever the truth may be — that fear is the most painful sensation of a moral life.
~ June Jordan ~
  • proposed by Kalki (mistakenly repeated, after first being used in 2009 on this date).
2019
I wanted to live my life so that people would know unmistakably that I am alive, so that when I finally die people will know the difference for sure between my living and my death.
~ June Jordan ~
2020
Poetry for the People rests upon a belief that the art of telling the truth is a necessary and a healthy way to create powerful, and positive, connections among people who, otherwise, remain (unknown and unaware) strangers. The goal is not to kill connections but, rather, to create and to deepen them among truly different men and women.
~ June Jordan ~
2021
I cherish the mercy and the grace of women’s work. But I know there is new work that we must undertake as well: that new work will make defeat detestable to us. That new women’s work will mean we will not die trying to stand up: we will live that way: standing up.
I came too late to help my mother to her feet.
By way of everlasting thanks to all of the women who have helped me to stay alive I am working never to be late again.
~ June Jordan ~
2022
The kind of society that Japan should aim at is a society in which the efforts of people are rewarded, a society in which there is no stratification into winners and losers, and a society in which ways of working, learning, and living are diverse and multi-tracked — in other words, a society of opportunity where everyone has a chance to challenge again. If there are people who sense they are facing inequality, it is the role of politics to shed light on them.
~ Shinzō Abe ~
  • proposed by Kalki; in regard of his recent death.
2023
Rank or add further suggestions…

Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

  • Our earth is round, and, among other things, that means that you and I can hold completely different points of view and both be right. The difference of our positions will show stars in your window I cannot even imagine. Your sky may burn with light, while mine, at the same moment, spreads beautiful to darkness. Still we must choose how we separately corner the circling universe of our experience. Once chosen, our cornering will determine the message of any star and darkness we encounter. ~ June Jordan

Ranking system:

4 : Excellent - should definitely be used.
3 : Very Good - strong desire to see it used.
2 : Good - some desire to see it used.
1 : Acceptable - but with no particular desire to see it used.
0 : Not acceptable - not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.


Suggestions edit

Any artist will tell you he's really only interested in the stuff he's doing now. He will, always. It's true, and it should be like that. ~ David Hockney

  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:21, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 19:51, 8 July 2006 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 1 Zarbon 05:12, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 15:42, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Food, clothing and shelter- these are the basic needs. Beyond that, if you want anything, it is the beginning of self-deception. ~ U. G. Krishnamurti


The body is not interested in anything 'you' are interested in; that is the battle that is going on all the time. ~ U. G. Krishnamurti

  • 3 because humans abuse and misuse their bodies. Zarbon 15:34, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 03:51, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 19:48, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 15:42, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

As a human body it is an extraordinary piece of creation. But as a human being he is rotten because of the culture. ~ U. G. Krishnamurti

  • 3 because the surrounding corrupts. Zarbon 15:34, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 InvisibleSun 19:48, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
  • 2.5 //Gbern3 (talk) 15:42, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Fear is a hammer, and when the people are beaten finally to the conviction that their existence hangs by a frayed thread, they will be led where they need to go. ~ Dean Koontz


We are the ones we have been waiting for.
~ June Jordan ~